Caged
by goldleaves
Summary: "She drew back a sleeve and there on her imperfect skin was a scar. A scar that I knew far too well, for it was tattooed onto my back thousands of times" - Peter/Bella OneShot


We vampires always make the mistake in thinking that humans are weak, that all they exist for is for our pleasure and food. I admit, that even I felt that way, once, but that was before I learnt about the true strength a human has. When I was much younger, and newer in this life, I thought that because they couldn't escape from us then they must be weak, and they are – in a physical sense.

We are the lions to their gazelle. We are the hunters and the predators and they are the prey who run uselessly away from us when we come near, but eventually they submit to our hands and that is their demise, and soon after they're dead and we move on to another prey and we forget about them.

I had always thought that metaphor was apt, I had never met a human who could resist us – they would try to run, try to follow their natural instincts. We are dangerous, the predators and the animal inside them tell them to run, that we're dangerous, but they always ignore that hidden instinct and try to get closer to us, to their peril.

That was, until I first met Isabella Swan. Her blood was a curious mix of honey and wildflowers – she was sweet and untameable, and I was obsessed with the thought of taming her, and tasting her sweet blood, and making my face the last she ever saw. I dreamt about the various ways I could kill her; I could corner her in an alley and make it look like a mugging gone wrong as I drain her against the cold and damp wall of an abandoned alley, or I could make her come to me; I could become such an important figure in her life, I could entice her into my arms and make her last moments one of happiness and joy, she deserved that at least.

However I did not expect her to walk up to me, and demand to know what I was planning and when I would kill her. I had been shocked and tried to from a response denying any action, or thought to that end when she looked at me and said,

"I know what you are"

I know what you are, that's all she said to me, she looked into my blood-red eyes and she knew that my marble white skin was not due to lucky genetics but more to do with an unfortunate occurrence with a vampire over a hundred years prior.

"Do you?"

It was not the most inspired thing to say, but even I would admit that she had shocked me, I was stunned. How could a human know the existence of vampires and willing go up to one of them? What type of person would willingly go up to a creature that stalked their kind without a hint of fear or worry tainting her scent? Who was this woman to be so brave, or stupid?

"Yes"

"Yes?"

Again, it wasn't the smartest thing to say, and I guess that she knew that I was dumbfounded, and that she found it amusing, I saw the corners of her lips draw up in a smile and her eyes crinkle with laughter.

"Yes, I've encountered your type before"

She drew back a sleeve and there on her imperfect skin was a scar. A scar that I knew far too well, for it was tattooed onto my back thousands of times that scar covered most of my so-called 'perfect' skin. A human could not see them, nor feel them but other vampires could.

They were badges of honour, stories of fights and consequent victories, they told of my military prowess, and of my ability to survive. Seeing her wearing such a scar and hiding it brought forth a rage in me. How dare she hide such a gift? How dare she be ashamed of a mark that would have made her better than what she already was? How dare she deny being made into a goddess among humans?

"Who?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who did that to you?"

"A nomad … James, he bit me"

"That wasn't what I was asking!"

I could smell her confusion in the air and I could see her face crinkle with bemusement. And the longer she didn't answer me, the angrier I was becoming. Didn't she know about the gift that had been ripped from her? I would find the vampire who had demeaned her so and I would rip him to pieces. It was bad enough that there was a human who knew of our existence, but the fact that there was one who was close to being turned into a higher being, before that was taken from her, and now there was a human who wore a badge of honour but was shamed by it. Her very existence angered me.

"Who?"

"Who what?"

She was getting frustrated now. Could she really not know what I was talking about? Could she really not know how much she had been insulted? A thought struck me then, perhaps she thought that the draining of venom from her system had been a gift and not a curse? My anger towards the very strange human diminished and turned to pity. Perhaps the vampire who had saved her life had told her that we were monsters, that he was doing her a favour. Did this poor girl know how much she had been fooled? How much she had been used?

I took her wrist gently, and ignoring her shudder I reverently placed a kiss to her scar, it was how I would have greeted her had her future not been so cruelly taken from her. I could see the potential she had and I could only imagine how her personality would have been shown and released from her mortal body once she was changed. Her true being would have shone once given an immortal body, but someone had to cage her within a mortal, and slowly dying body, locking up her true self within soft skin and behind haunted brown eyes.

"Who took the venom out?"

"Edward"

Edward, his name was familiar, but then again I knew many Edwards. But none of them would cage a goddess within the body of a human, within the body of a lesser being. All except one.

"Cullen"

I saw her shudder when I said the name, and I knew that my guess was right. Edward Cullen, hater of the gift and overall arrogant constantly whining teenager Edward had taken her future away from her, and if I guessed right had hurt her emotionally at the same time.

Seeing her distress, I gently rubbed my thumb across the scar on his wrist and as I did, I could feel the tension in her muscles start to dissipate. She smiled at me, and for the first time in my immortal life I wondered about the strength of humans. Here was a goddess trapped within a human shell, and despite the emotional pain she was living in, the effects of that initial bite had not left her weak. She was strong, desperately clinging to power and control. Her inner soul was pushing at the cracks in her mortal body, waiting for the time where she could appear.

Looking into her eyes, I saw the animal within her. It was waiting for me, it was accepting. She had come to me because she knew what I was, and she wanted the future that had been taken from her, and I was happy to oblige, anything to repair the damage, which Cullen had made. I would turn her and once she had been freed I would repair her heart. I would make her happy and she would be the goddess I know she is.

She looked at me, and as I drew closer I could smell her apprehension in the air. She wanted this, but she was nervous. I wrapped her delicate human frame in my arms and placed a soft kiss on the curve of her neck. She swallowed for the last time.

"What's your name?"

"Peter"

And then I bit her. I could taste the honey in her blood, and it tasted just as beautiful and addicting as I had imagined from her scent, even more so. It took all of my self-control not to keep drinking, but when I had deemed there to be enough venom in her system I let go, and with a lick on the bite to keep it from bleeding, and allow it to heal, she was changing.

I watched over her for three days, and I watched as she morphed from human to the goddess she truly was. She was beautiful and fierce and powerful, and mine. I taught her to hunt, how to blend in, how her mental shield was both a defence and an offence. I taught her the true nature of vampires. I healed the scars in her heart and she healed mine. She taught me about the strength of humanity, and the inner strength of humans, and I taught her about the true power of scars and bites – their meanings and worth. I taught her that no matter what some teenage-brained vampire had thought, she was amazing and she was worth it. She tried to teach me the value of drinking from animals, but that was one thing she failed in, but that doesn't stop her from trying every now and again.

Isabella Swan taught me about the hidden strength of humans and about humanity, and it's those lessons that I cherish the most, because they brought me closer to her, closer to my mate – though of course I didn't know it at the time. That's not to say that we don't fight, and that we live a perfect happy life, because we don't, but I'm content because I have her in it, and that's all I need.

Well that, and a need to punch Edward Cullen in the face the next time we meet.


End file.
